Ironing machine



y 4 P. E. GELDHOF IRQNING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed D80. 23, 1936 InyEnT DR 5 M 'TTEIRNEY y 1940- P. E. GELDHOF IRONING MACHINE Filed Dec. 23, 1936 3 Sheets-$heet 2 TTU'RHEY InvEriT n1? .EIY

July 16, 1940.

PHE. GELDHOF IRONING- MACHINE 7 Filed Dec. 23; 1956 s sheets-sheet s INVENTDR BY ddsa KM,

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Patented July 16, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,208,097 r IRONING MACHINE Peter Eduard Geldhof, Syracuse: N. Y., assignor to Easy Washing MachinerCorporation, Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation-of Delaware Application December 23, race, Serial No. 117,249

7 Claims. (on. 38-60) My invention relates to domestic ironing ma};

chines and more particularly to a mechanism for varying the speed of rotation of the roll and the operation of the shoe of an ironing machine.

vIt has heretofore been the practice in domestic ironing machines to rotate the roll at a constant speed, usually about six revolutions per minute. For most ordinary ironing operations. this speed of rotation of the roll is satisfactory; However, I have found that'with certain delicate articles of clothing such as women's lingerie, a speed of 6 R. P. M. of the roll may cause scorching of the article because the interval during which the article is in contact with the hot shoe is too long. This scorching of delicate articles, I have found, may be eliminated by increasing the speed of rotation of the roll so that the interval of contact between the article and the hot shoe is decreased.

I have also found that garments to be ironed are seldom sprinkled to the proper degree of dampness or uniformly. At times, the housewife will dampen the article too much so that, at the normal rotational speed of the roll of 6 R. P. M., contact between the garment and the hot shoe is not maintained for a long enough time to thoroughly dry the garment and perform a satisfactory ironing operation the reon. When the clothes are too damp, one pass of the clothes between the roll and the hot shoe does not properly dry the clothes and satisfactorily iron them.

Under these circumstances, it has been customarily the practice for the operator to pass the article of clothing through the machine a second This repetition of the ironing operation causes a considerable waste of time and, I have 'found, may be eliminated by providing means for decreasing the speed of rotation of the roll and thereby increasing the interval of contact between the damp article and the hot shoe. Such means should be conveniently operated and readily accessible for actuation so that when the operator strikes a damp article she may instantaneously decrease the speed of rotation of the roll and thereby thoroughly dry the article and satisfactorily ironit upon nassingit only once between the roll and'the hot shoe.

It is also desirable in ironing machines which are provided with power operated means for moving the shoe relative to the roll that the speed of such movement be variable in accordance with the speed of rotation of the roll. For example, if the optimum speed of relative movement between the roll and the shoe is determined for the normal operating speed of the roll, and if the speed of the roll is increased without changing the speed oi closure between the roll and the shoe, it will be evident that the article to be ironed may be carried too far before the shoe is in operative relation to the roll. This may result in improper ironing of the material. There have been de- 5 veloped some ironing machines provided with mechanism for varying the speed of the roll. So far as I am aware, however, none of these machines couples with the change of roll, speed means for changing the speed of the relative movement between the roll and the shoe in bringing the shoe into and-out of operative engagement with the roll. The mechanism of my inventior includes an arrangement of the power transmission means which provides for varying the speed of the relative movement for bringing the shoe into contact with the roll as well as for varying the speed of the roll.

An object of my invention is to provide an ironing machine wherein means are provided for conveniently and instantaneously varying the speed of rotation of the roll to vary the time of contact between the article being ironed and the hot shoe in accordance with the character or dampness of the article being ironed.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a variable speed mechanism particularly adapted for use in a domestic ironing machine, whereby the speed of rotation of the roll may be readily and instantaneously varied by the 'operator.

' My invention further contemplates, in an ironing machine equipped for variable speed operation, the assembly of the ironing machine motor, the variable speed mechanism, and the ironing elements together with their operating mechanisms on an ironing stand in such manner that each unit may be separately removed from'the stand, whendesired, without disturbing the position of theother units of the assembly.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be more apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view, partly in section, showing the ironing elements, the motor and the variable speed mechanism of my invention supported on an ironing stand.

Figure 2 is a view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, in the direction indicated by the arrow, showing a portion of the roll and shoe drive mechanism.

Figure 3 is a view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, in the direction indicated by the arrow, and showing a portion of the roll and shoe operating mechanism and showing the construction of my novel variable speed drive.

ure 4 is a view taken on the line |4 of Fig- .ure 3, showing a portion of the low speed drive mechanism.

Figure 5 is a view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3, in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Figure 6 is a view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 2, in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Figure 7 is a view taken on the line l-l of Figure 6, in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Figure 8 is a view taken on the line 88 of Figure 7, in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Figure 9 is a perspective view showing the parts of the coupling used between the motor and the variable speed mechanism and between the variable speed mechanism and the mechanism for operating the ironing elements.

The construction of the roll and the shoe of my ironing machine, together with the operating mechanism therefor, may be, in general, similar to that shown in application Serial No. 410,485 filed in the name of Luther Ringer on November 29, 1929. Since the specific construction of these elements of the ironing machine does not constitute a part of my present invention except insofar as these elements cooperate with the remainder of the operating mechanism, reference may be had to said application for a detailed description of the construction and operation of these parts.

In general, the machine of my invention comprises a rotatable roll H and a shoe |2 which is movable toward and from the roll. The mechanism for driving the roll and operating the shoe is mounted in a gear case l3 which is supportedon an ironing stand It having suitable legs l6. Briefly, the mechanism for rotating the roll and operating the shoe, mounted in the gear case l3, comprises a worm H which is rigidly secured to a driven shaft H3. The worm ll is in constant mesh with aworm wheel I9. As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the worm wheel I9 is loosely mounted on a main shaft 2| and has either formed integral therewith or, as shown in the drawings, secured thereto a gear or clutch element 22. Secured to the shaft by means of a key 23 is an eccentric 23 which is integral with a plate 26. On the plate 26 is pivotally mounted a clutch assembly including a clutch element 21 having a clutch tooth 28. .-A spring 29 normally urges the clutch tooth 28 into engagement with the teeth of the clutch element 22. The clutch assembly may be similar to that shown in Patent No. 1,660,448 issued to Rudolph Janda February 28, 1928, or may be similar to that shown in Patent No. 2,056,666 issued on October 6, 1936 to me.

An arm 32 normally lies in the path of rotation of the clutch element 21 and is adapted to engage the clutch element and withdraw the clutch tooth 28 from engagement with the clutch element 22 against the action of the spring 29 upon each 180 degrees of rotation of the plate 26. A hand-operated control 33, extending through the casing, is secured to the arm 32 and, upon depressing the control 33, the arm 32 is withdrawn from engagement with the clutch element 2! against the action of-a spring 36. A stop pin 30, carried by the casing, limits the movement of the arm 32 under the action of the spring 34 so that, upon release of the control 33, the arm 32 lies in the path of movement of the clutch element 21.

An arm 36, having a bifurcated end as indicated at 31, straddles the eccentric 24 and is drives the worm l1 and the worm wheel IS.

the clutch element 22.

causes the shoe I2 to move toward and from the roll. The construction of the shoe and the supporting mechanism therefor is more particularly described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,865,048 issued to Luther Ringer and. dated June 28, 1932.

The worm wheel |9 has on one face thereof and formed integral therewith, as indicated in Figure 7, a clutch part 4| which is adapted to engage with a cooperating clutch part 42 formed on one face of a gear 43. in Figure 6, meshes with a gear 44 fixed to a shaft 45 which is supported in a boss 46 extending from the casing l3. On the end of the shaft 45 is rigidly mounted a gear 41 which meshes with an internal gear 48 mounted on the inside of the roll A spring 89 encircles a boss formed internally of the casing and normally presses a plate 5| toward the right, as viewed in Figure 7. The face of the plate 5| engages the gear 43 so that the gear 83 is pressed in a direction to engage the clutch elements 4| and 42. The plate 5| is secured to a sleeve 52 with respect to which the gear 43 is rotatable. A spring 53, mounted internally of the shaft 2| and having a ball 54 at the end thereof, normally presses the shaft toward the right, as viewed in Figure 7. The key 23 rides on 'a cam surface, as indicated at 56 in dotted lines in Figure '7, so as, when the shaft is rotated, to move the shaft endwise against the action of the spring 53. shaft, engages the sleeve 52 which in turn engages the gear 43 to move the clutch elements 6| and 82 out of engagement when the shaft is moved endwise and thereby stop rotation of the roll.

An arm 51, pivoted at 58 to the casing, engages the plate 5| and extends to the forward portion of the casing. A hand control 58 extends or the outside of the casing l3 and is secured to a shaft extending inside the casing upon the end of which is mounted a cam 6|. Rotation of the cam 6| moves the arm 51 to the left, as viewed in Figure 6, so as to move the plate 5|, the collar 52 andthe gear 83 to the left, as viewedin Figure '7, to disengage the clutch elements ll and 82.

The operation of the structure thus far described is more particularly described in the above mentioned Luther Ringer application but may be briefly summarized. The shaft I8 is constantly driven by the motor 66 which in turn Rotation of the worm wheel It! causes rotation of When the hand control 33 is depressed, the arm 32 is withdrawn from contact with the clutch part 21 which permits the clutch tooth 28 to engage the teeth of the clutch element 22. The plate 26 and the eccentrio 2% are thereby connected to the gear l9, and rotation of the eccentric causes movement of the arm 36 and thereby the shaft 38 Which controls the movement of the shoe toward and away from the roll. Immediately upon the operator releasing the hand control 33, the spring 34 restores the arm, 32 into the path of movement of the clutch part 21 and, upon 180 degrees rotation thereof, the other end of the clutch part 21 engages the arm 32 and the clutch tooth 28 is with- The gear 43, as shown.

A collar 50, fixed on the drawn from engagement with the clutch element 22.

If, for example, the parts have been operated to cause the shoe to move away from the roll, as

the shaft 2Irotates, the key 23 rides on the cam element 22, under the action of the spring 29,

causing rotation of the eccentric 24 and thereby moving the shoe toward the roll. This operation causes rotation of the shaft 2 I. The key 23 rides on the low portion of the cam and the spring 53.

moves the shaft to the right, as viewed in Figure 7, carrying with it the gear 43, and thereby engaging the clutch elements 4i and 42 to cause rotation of the roll. v

The parts are so constructed and arranged and co-ordinated that the roll will start to rotate just before the shoe engages the roll and will stop rotating the instant the shoe leaves the roll. The entire operation is under the control of the handcontrol 33. At times, during the operation of the ironing machine, a damp spot in the garment being ironed is struck or it may be desired to use the machine for pressing operations, in which case it is desirable to stop rotation of the roll or prevent its rotation when the shoe is again moved into engagement with the roll. This is accomplished by pressing the hand control 59 which rotates the cam 6I and moves the arm 51 to the left, as viewed in Figure 6, to retain the clutch elements 4I out of engagement or withdraw them from such engagement if such should be their condition.

As mentioned above, it has been customary in the past to rotate the roll of the ironing machine at a constant speed of approximately 6 R. P. M. In practice, I have found that this speed, while satisfactory for most ironing operations, is too slow when delicate and easily scorched articles are being ironed and is too fast when damp articles are being ironed. I have, therefore, provided between the motor 66 and the gear case I3 a variable speed mechanism which is mounted in a gear case 61. The motor 66 is supported from beneath the ironing stand by means of a bracket 68 depending from which are two arms 69 to which the motor 66 is secured. The gear case 61 is also supported from the bracket 68. The motor shaft 'II has one part I2 of a flexible coupling rigidly secured thereon and a shaft I3 extends from the gear casing 61 and has secured thereto another part I4 of a flexible coupling which is adapted to engage with the part I2 of the flexible coupling. The flexible coupling is shown in detail in Figure 9. The part' I2 of the flexible coupling has projecting fingers I0 and the part 14 has projecting fingers I0.-

A piece of flexible material such as rubber, is provided with grooves I5 for the reception of the fingers I0 and I0. When the fingers of the flexible clutch parts I2 and 'I41ie in the grooves, the coupling is in operative condition and may be disengaged so as to enable the motor to be removed from the machine without unloosening any bolts or other fastening means.

Mounted internally of the gear case 61 on the shaft I3 is a worm I6. The worm I6 is adapted to mesh with a worm wheel 11 which is secured to a vertically extending shaft 16 by means of a pin I9. The lower end of the shaft I8 is journaled in a boss 8I at the lower part of the casing and the upper end is journaled in a similar boss 02 at the top of the casing. On the shaft I8 and rigidly secured thereto by keys 83 are gears 84; 06 and 81. The gears 84, 86 and 81 are constantly in mesh, respectively, with gears 89, 89 and 9I'. Each of the gears 08, 89 and 9| is loosely mounted on a shaft 92 which is suitably journaled in the casing. The shaft 92 extends parallel to the shaft I8 and is in line with the shaft I6.

The upper end of the shaft 92 extends through the casing and to the extended end is rigidly secured one element 93 of a flexible coupling. Secured rigidly to the lower end of the shaft I8 is another element 94 of the flexible coupling. The flexible coupling is similar to the flexible coupling I2-'I4 shown in detail in Figure 9. The shaft I0 is 'journaled in the gear casing I3 and is provided with a ball thrust bearing at 96. A bearing 91 is driven into the internal bore of a boss 98 and serves to support the upper end of the shaft. A collar 99 spaces the bearing 91 from the worm H. The lower end of the casing I3 is provided with means indicated by the numeral I00 for preventing leakage of oil from the casing.

As shown more clearly in Figure 4, the gear 9I has a collar IOI mounted internally thereof which is rigidly secured to the shaft 92 by means of a key I02. The gear9I is rotatable with respect to the collar IM and is provided with irregularly shaped slots I03 in which are mounted balls I04. A pair of U-springs I06 are mounted in enlarged portions of the slots I03 and normally, when the drive is from the shaft I8 through gear 81 and gear 9I, the balls I04 are in engagement with the springs I06 so that the collar IOI, together with the shaft 92, is driven by means of the woeldge action of the balls I04 against the collar A shaft Ii'I'Iv has mounted on the outer end thereof, in a position to be readily actuated by the operator, a hand controll08. The inner end of the shaft ID! has rigidly secured thereto a sleeve I09 having a peripheral groove I I I formed therein. A retaining element H2 is normally pressed by means of a spring II3 into engagement with the groove so that when the hand control I08 is adjusted to a desired position, the sleeve I09 is resiliently retained by the retaining element H2 in said adjusted position. Oil retaining means are also provided extending concentric with the sleeve for preventing leakage of oil from the casing 61. The sleeve I09 is mounted f and journaled in a boss formed in the casing 61 and has formed on its inner end, a projection II4 which extends eccentrically with respect to the sleeve I09. The eccentric projection II4 lies in a peripheral groove II5 formed in a clutch element II 8 and is adapted to actuate the clutch element. The clutch element II6, through keys I I1, is secured to but slidable along the shaft 92. The faces H0 and H9 of theclutch element II6 have tapered slots I2I formed therein. The slots I 2| are adapted to register with pins I22 and I23 rigidly secured to and projecting, respectively, from the gears 88 and 89.

When the machine is operating at' a normal speed" of six revolutions of the roll per minute, the worm I1 is driven from the motor through gears 86-09. The hand control is then in a vertical position, indicated by the letter M adjace'nt the hand control in Figure l, and the clutch element I I6 is in the up position, as viewed in Figure 3, to couple the gear 89 to the shaft 92. When the operator, during the course of ironing, reaches a damp article or if a damp spot is struck in the particular garment being ironed, she moves the hand control I08 to the position shown in Figure 1, in which position the clutch element H6 is in the position shown in Figure 3. The drive is then at low speed through gears 8|9I, the balls I04 and the collar IM to the shaft 92. When a delicate article, likely to be scorched, is reached the operator moves the hand control I08 to the down position which couples the gear 88 to the shaft 92 through the clutch'element H6, thereby driving the roll at high speed. The drive through the gears 8'|9|, balls I04 and collar IN is at a certain minimum speed. When the clutch element is shifted from the neutral position into coupling engagement with either the gear 88 or the gear 89, the shaft 92, together with the collar I01, is driven at a higher speed than the speed of rotation of the gear 9i and consequently the balls I04 are carried into the dotted line position shown in Figure 4, out of driving relation with the springs 106.

While, preferably, the variable speed arrangement is such as to drive the roll at speeds of four, six. and nine revolutions per minute, it is apparent that these speeds may be varied and that various changes may be made in the mechanism of the variable speed drive without departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a, domestic ironing machine of the type wherein a rotatable roll and a movable shoe constituting the ironing elements are mounted adjacent each other, a casing enclosing mechanism for operating the ironing elements, said roll being supported from said casing, an ironing stand for supporting said casing, a driven shaft extending from said casing through the top of said ironing stand, a motor supported from the lower side of said ironing stand, a second casing having speed changing mechanism therein, said second casing being supported from the lower side of said ironing stand, means for connecting said motor through said speed changing mechanism to said driven shaft, said connecting means including a plurality of readily detachable couplings whereby the motor, the speed changing mechanism and the operating mechanism for the ironing elements may be readily separated from each other as units.

2. In a domestic ironing machine of the type wherein a roll member and a shoe member are mounted in cooperative relation with each other,

power operating means for rotating said roll member and for producing relative movement of edly mounted with respect to each other, and an operating mechanism operatively connecting the speed changing mechanism with the roll member and with the shoe member for varying P" in direct proportion the speed of movement of said movable member and the speed of rotation of said roll member whereby said speed of roin claim'2 having manually operated control means for actuating the speed changing mechanism, and separate manually operated control means associated with the operating mechanism for selectively disconnectingthe roll from the motor whereby said roll may be caused to remain stationary against rotation while maintaining the speed changing mechanism and the operating mechanism effective for producing the relative movement of the shoe and roll with respect to each other.

5. In a domestic ironing machine of the type wherein a rotatable roll and a movable shoe are mounted in cooperative relation with each other, power operating means for moving said shoe toward and from the roll and for rotating said roll, said power operating means including a speed changing mechanism of the positive drive type, a motor operatively connected with said speed changing mechanism, said mechanism and said motor being fixedly mounted with respect to each other, and an operating mechanism operatively connecting the speed changing mechanism with the roll and with the shoe for vary-- ing in direct proportion the speed of movement of the shoe and the speed of rotation of said roll whereby the speed of rotation of the roll and the rate of movement of said shoe are synchronized at each speed of operation. 6. An ironing machine of the character set forth in claim 5 having readily detachable couplings connecting the speed changing mechanism with the motor and with said operating mechanism whereby the motor, the speed changing mechanism and the operating mechanism may be readily separated from each other as units.

{7. In a domestic ironing machine of the type wherein a roll member and a shoe member are mounted in cooperative relation to each other, power operating means for rotating said roll member and for producing relative movement between said roll member and shoe member to bring said members into and out of cooperative relation with each other, said power operating means comprising a change speed gear train and a driving motor connected therewith in fixed relation thereto, power transmission means for obtaining relative movement between said roll member and said shoe member including a clutch connected to the output end of said change speed gear train, and a second power transmission means including a second clutch connecting the output of said change speed gear train to said roll member for rotating said roll, whereby the speed of relative movement between said roll and shoe members is increased and decreased as the speed of said roll is increased and decreased.

PETER EDUARD GELDHOF. 

